Hollywood Plan Two New Robin Hood Movies?

Richard Todd in Disney's 'Story of Robin Hood'

I have been very busy this last few weeks working with my partner on our Rosa Mundi Craft Stall at various Christmas Fairs. So this will have to be a brief post. But I could not avoid commenting on the news that Hollywood are planning two new Robin Hood movies. In particular a new Disney version! (Which will be their third interpretation of the legend).

This is from 'Deadline':

Hollywood is planning rival blockbusters about Robin Hood, just four years after Russell Crowe’s turn as the iconic English outlaw failed to capture the imagination of cinemagoers.

Sony reportedly paid $2m in October for a script titled Hood, pitched as a jumping off point for a huge Avengers-style Robin Hood “universe”. Now rival studio Disney has picked up the screenplay for Nottingham & Hood, described as a revisionist take on the famous outlaw with franchise potential.

Both projects will hope to avoid the calamities which hit Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, starring a suspiciously Irish-sounding Crowe as a new version of the hero. A proposed shoot had to be abandoned in 2008 following concern that the leaves in the location doubling for Sherwood Forest would not be green enough. The following year, actor Sienna Miller left the project amid reports that the English star’s youth and slim figure were showing up the Gladiator actor’s age and expanding girth.

Scott’s film was originally titled Nottingham and pitched as a revisionist take with Crowe as a good Sheriff of Nottingham and Christian Bale as an evil Hood. But by the time it eventually arrived on the big screen, the veteran British director had plumped for a more traditional take and Bale had exited the project."

And also:

"Disney wants to give the “Pirates of the Caribbean" treatment to the legend of Robin Hood. The studio that owns Marvel, the Star Wars universe, and basically everything else in the world that you love, has purchased a pitch from writer Brandon Barker called “Nottingham & Hood,” produced by The Picture Company’s Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman.

One assumes that the movie is as the title suggests — a story of adventurous archer Robin Hood’s exploits in Sherwood Forest, and his rivalry with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Exact details aren’t known, but Deadline says the script “has a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ tone and the hope is to launch a new adventure franchise that fits Disney’s global brand.”

In other words, just as Robin has his bow aimed at evildoers, so too is Disney targeting a big new franchise for its fans around the world. We’ll have to wait and see if their take on Robin Hood has any of the off-kilter charm that the bumbling Jack Sparrow boasts."

This is from another website:

"In one heck of an eye-popping move, Sony is in the midst of making a seven-figure deal to buy a pitch centering on Robin Hood.

Cory Goodman and Jeremy Lott are behind the pitch, which is titled Hood.

The figure for the deal, according to sources, is $1 million against $2 million, while producer deals are still being negotiated. 

One reason for the high price is that the pitch involves the magic words “universe” and “Avengers.” The plan is to make a series of movies focusing on the outlaw archer and his band of Merry Men: Little John, Friar Tuck and Will Scarlett. One could say they were the superhero team of England’s Middle Ages. The tone of the story has been described as Mission: Impossible and the recent Fast & Furious movies. Michael De Luca brought the project and will oversee for the studio."

So it seems that once again the legend will get a new 'face lift'  (possibly two) by Hollywood producers for the next generation of movie goers. As someone that has had a life-long interest in Robin Hood I will wait eagerly to see how they interpret those ancient stories.

Joan Rice and Richard Todd as Marian and Robin

Readers of this blog will no doubt be extremely interested in how Disney's third Robin Hood will turn out. Please let me know what you think!